Washington Man Directs New Japan Disaster DocumentaryAn Everett, Washington, man is excited for the U.S. premiere Friday of his documentary about last year’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan. The first-hand account will also get its Canadian premiere in Vancouver, B.C., Saturday night, almost precisely one year after the disaster.

Washington Man Directs New Japan Disaster Documentary

An Everett, Washington, man is excited for the U.S. premiere Friday of his documentary about last year’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan. The first-hand account will also get its Canadian premiere in Vancouver, B.C., Saturday night, almost precisely one year after the disaster.

Thirty-one-year-old Chris Noland’s film is called “Surviving Japan.” In some places, the movie is almost a video diary of Noland’s experiences during and after the earthquake.

At the time he was working as an English instructor in Tokyo. Noland brought his video camera along as he volunteered for weeks at a time to help clean up tsunami-ravaged communities.

Noland said making the film has greatly increased his own empathy for humanity and “It taught me that if everything broke down in society that people would actually come together and help each other.”

The movie’s premieres in Seattle and Vancouver coincide with twin conferences focusing on Japan’s nuclear disaster. The 90-minute film is also under consideration for the Seattle International Film Festival this coming May.